Diamond Announces Top Products for December 2018

Jan 18, 2019

(BALTIMORE, MD) — (January 18, 2019) — Spinning out of the events of Dark Nights: Metal, a twisted version of Batman is on the loose in Gotham City in Scott Snyder and Jock’s The Batman Who Laughs #1 from DC Entertainment, the best-selling comic book of December 2018 according to information provided by Diamond Comic Distributors, the world's largest distributor of comics, graphic novels, and pop culture merchandise.

In total, DC Entertainment had seven titles in the top ten, including Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo's Batman: Damned #2 at #2, Geoff Johns and Gary Frank's Doomsday Clock #8 at #3, Tom King and Mikel Janin's Batman #60 at #4, King and Travis Moore's Batman #61 at #5, Tom Taylor and Otto Schmidt's Batman Annual #3 at #9, and Johns and Dale Eaglesham's SHAZAM! #1 at #10. Marvel Comics had three titles in the top ten: Nick Spencer, Ryan Ottley, and Cliff Rathburn's Amazing Spider-Man #11 at #7; Dan Slott, Mike Allred, Adam Hughes, and Aaron Kuder's Fantastic Four #5, featuring the wedding of Ben Grimm and Alicia Masters, at #8, and Spencer, Ottley, and Rathburn's Amazing Spider-Man #12 at #9. Among the premier publishers, Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead #186 was Image Comics' top book in December at #18; BOOM! Studios' Firefly #2, based on Joss Whedon's television series, was their best-selling comic at #60; Marvel Action: Avengers #1 was IDW Publishing's top book at #86; Dark Horse Comics' Hellboy Winter Special 2018 ranked #112; and Dynamite Entertainment's John Wick #4 was their top book at #145.

Marvel Comics was the top publisher in December, with a 38.57% dollar share and 44.09% unit share. DC Entertainment was second, with a 31.51% dollar share and a 30.75% unit share. In third was Image Comics at 8.73% in dollars and 9.06% in units, followed by IDW Publishing at 4.10% in dollars and 3.55% in units, BOOM! Studios with 2.98% in dollars and 2.38% in units, Dark Horse Comics with 2.82% in dollars and 2.37% in units, and Dynamite Entertainment with 2.11% in dollars and 2.10% in units.

Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang's Paper Girls Volume 5 from Image Comics was December's best-selling graphic novel. DC Entertainment had three titles in the top ten, led by Batman Volume 8: Cold Days at #2. Dark Horse Comics' Avatar: The Last Airbender: Imbalance Part 1 ranked #3. BOOM! Studios was also in the top ten; Saban's Power Rangers: Soul Dragon, an original graphic novel, ranked #4. Marvel Comics also had three titles in the top ten; Star Wars Volume 9: Hope Dies was their top charting book for the month at #5.

Inspired by the long-running BBC series, BBC Books' Doctor Who: TARDIS Type-40 Instruction Manual, a technical manual that explores the Doctor's time and space vessel, was the best-selling book in December. Gemstone Publishing's The Overstreet Price Guide to Star Wars Collectibles ranked #7 for the month.

Diamond Select Toys' Ghostbusters Series 9 Action Figures, featuring characters from the late 1980s animated television series The Real Ghostbusters, was December's best-selling toy product and one of three products from the manufacturer in the top ten. DC Collectibles had three products among the top ten, as well, led by the DC Artists Alley: The Flash by Uminga Vinyl Figure at #5. Mezco also had three products in the top ten, including the PREVIEWS Exclusive One:12 Collective: Marvel Comics: Dr. Strange (Defenders) Action Figure at #2.

Green Ronin Publishing's Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, a sourcebook for the Critical Role role-playing game, was December's best-selling game product. Paizo had a strong month, with seven products in the top ten, led by the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook at #2.

How does Diamond calculate the charts? It all starts at the comic book shop.

Data for Diamond’s sales charts — which includes the monthly market shares and all top product charts — are compiled by Diamond Comic Distributors from sales made to thousands of comic book specialty shops located in North America and around the world. Additional sales made to online merchants and other specialty retailers may be included as well.

Unit and dollar market shares are calculated based upon orders for comic books, graphic novels, and magazines invoiced and shipped to Diamond customers during any given month, which comprises pre-orders, advance reorders, and reorders, minus any copies that are received back from a title marked as returnable. Please note that comics marked with an asterisk (*) have had their reported quantities reduced due to retailer returnability, and thus may rank lower on the charts than their actual sales would reflect.

The New Titles Count Chart includes all titles that were invoiced by Diamond to retailers for the first time during the month and is not the official solicited title count for the month. Variant edition comic books and graphic novels at the same price point count as a single SKU. Variant edition comic books, lenticular covers, digital combo packs, and graphic novels at different price points count as separate SKUs for each edition.

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ABOUT DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS (DCD)—Diamond is at the nexus of comics and pop culture merchandise. Based in Baltimore, MD, DCD is the world's largest distributor of English-language comic books and pop-culture related merchandise, servicing thousands of specialty retailers worldwide. For more information, visit Diamond on the web at www.diamondcomics.com.

Since its inception in 2014, the McDuffie Award has spotlighted the outstanding comics from traditionally underrepresented voices in comic book publishing that also strive to widen the diversity of the craft on the page.